Plan A
The Days and Nights of the Courtesan 17
Marriage
Qu Feiqing arranged her younger brother’s funeral with an exquisite but indifferent face, showing no trace of sorrow.
To Qu Feiqing, people who are not important do not have the value of making her feel sad.
Su Xin now watched from a distance, frowning as she saw Qu Xingchen don mourning clothes for his father.
The Prince had committed s*icide. If this got out, it would ruin the family’s reputation. Qu Feiqing only thought her brother was troubled, so she had him placed under house arrest with food and drink provided and even brought his son to be raised. If he still could not overcome his troubles, what more could she do?
Qu Xingchen’s chin was sharp, and his eyes were red. At only eleven or twelve years old, he seemed much more mature than before. Kneeling by the coffin, he appeared to be shrouded in a layer of dark shadow.
Qu Feiqing glanced over his body, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face.
In the third year, Qu Feiyun got married.
Qu Feiyun was not young anymore, and Qu Feiqing did not force her, leaving her to her own devices.
Qu Feiqing was proposed to by the second son of a general, a dashing young man.
As her marriage approached, Qu Feiyun came to see Su Xin, looking like a young girl in love, ready to marry.
“I understand now, the way my Sister Emperor looks at you, it’s truly as if she is looking at her wife.”
Qu Feiyun, who was slow on the uptake, said excitedly. The second son of the general looked at her in the same way, making her heart pound uncontrollably.
“Are you and my Sister Emperor really that kind of relationship?”
Qu Feiyun had never thought in that direction before but now found it quite peculiar.
“Yes.”
Su Xin lazily nodded her head.
With Qu Feiyun getting married, there would be one less person in the palace to talk to her. With nothing to do, she could only read more books in the future.
“Well, you and my Sister Emperor live well together, and don’t you dare run away.”
Qu Feiyun patted Su Xin’s shoulder.
“You go marry your person, and you have to remind me of how you tattled on me to her a few years ago, don’t you?”
Su Xin rolled her eyes.
When Qu Feiyun got married, there was a lot of fanfare and excitement. Qu Feiqing gave her a lavish dowry, and the betrothal gifts from the general’s family were also impressive.
“Do you want this?”
Qu Feiqing stood with her hands behind her back, tilting her head to look at Su Xin.
Su Xin was startled for a moment and then shook her head.
It’s all just formality. Staying together is already enough.
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Given their respective statuses, it was indeed not convenient to announce their relationship to the world.
Qu Feiqing’s position was already unstable, with countless people watching her like tigers eyeing their prey. Su Xin did not want to create more trouble.
With the always-smiling princess gone from the palace, and no one chattering like a sparrow around Su Xin, she felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.
A few days passed uneventfully. When Su Xin opened her eyes, she saw Shujuan standing by her bedside, with a sorrowful expression.
Upon seeing Su Xin open her eyes, Shujuan hurriedly hid her expression, looking very stiff.
“Shujuan, what’s wrong?”
Su Xin propped herself up on her elbow and rubbed her eyes.
Shujuan shook her head, biting her lip as if about to cry.
“Has someone bullied you?”
Seeing Shujuan like this, Su Xin felt a bit nervous.
“Miss, will you get married in the future?”
Shujuan asked after a moment of silence.
“Mm? Don’t you know that I am with her?”
Su Xin found it strange why Shujuan would ask this and suddenly remembered that Shujuan was also not young anymore. She had long reached the age suitable for marriage and couldn’t serve her in the palace for a lifetime.
“Shujuan, do you want to leave, or is there someone you like?”
Shujuan’s face turned pale, and her expression dimmed.
“Shujuan should have thought of it…”
Shujuan murmured to herself. Back then, when the Emperor made it so obvious, Miss still couldn’t see it, let alone her.
“Please, Miss, wash up and then bathe and change clothes.”
Shujuan bent down and sighed inwardly.
Su Xin was somewhat puzzled, and after washing up, she went to bathe. After the bath, she realized something.
After bathing, Su Xin put on her undergarments and came out with wet hair.
Shujuan went up to dry her hair. Not long after having breakfast, while basking in the warm sun in the courtyard, Su Xin’s hair was almost dry.
When Su Xin asked Shujuan to tie her hair, Shujuan did not move and asked her to change her clothes first.
“Miss, please change your clothes first. Once you’re done, Shujuan will do your hair.”
The clothes placed on the tray by Shujuan were bright red, a color that strikes deep into the heart—it was a wedding dress.
“Qu Feiqing…”
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Su Xin had already guessed. She picked up the clothes; whether in fabric or style, they were top-notch.
Even though she had said it wasn’t necessary, Su Xin curved her lips. Wearing a wedding dress—she had never experienced it before.
Shujuan quietly watched Su Xin in her wedding dress, slowly blinking. This outfit was not worn for her, nor could it ever be. She had always known this.
She never hoped that Miss would turn back and look at her. She had often wondered what Miss’s future would be like—perhaps staying in a brothel as the top courtesan, becoming a madam when she grew old, or perhaps marrying as a concubine, or meeting someone she liked as in the stories. She wished to stay by Miss’s side, no matter what her final fate would be.
She never imagined this—that Miss would leave her country and the small town she once knew, coming to another kingdom’s palace, entangled with their Emperor in a complicated relationship.
Miss could accept liking girls, but she still had no chance.
Perhaps, to Miss, she was just a very loyal servant. She had always known her place and never dared to hope for more.
But on this day, she wanted to escape and lick her wounds alone but couldn’t. She had to put beautiful makeup on her Miss and then watch her walk towards another person.
Su Xin noticed the dazed look on Shujuan’s face and thought about her reaction.
Master Fourteen, could it be that Shujuan liked the original owner?
【It seems so.】
Shujuan liked the one who saved her from suffering and spent every day with her, Xue Yao, not Su Xin.
Su Xin had a pretty good memory; she recalled that when she first arrived, Shujuan had mentioned that she seemed a bit different.
But generally, people wouldn’t think about things like reincarnation or transmigration, right? Especially for people in ancient times, such things are too fantastical.
Has the original owner already disappeared?
【Yes.】
Su Xin waited for Shujuan to put on her makeup. There are many people and many things that cannot go as one wishes; Su Xin couldn’t help Shujuan.
The person Shujuan liked was already dead. The one living in this body now was Su Xin, who was trying hard to play the original owner and fulfill her wishes. Su Xin didn’t like Shujuan, only thinking that she was quite a nice and cute maid, nothing more.
Since there were no such feelings, there was no need to say more. Su Xin was now with Qu Feiqing and had acknowledged each other’s status and confirmed their relationship, so there was no need to complicate matters further.
Shujuan carefully applied makeup for Su Xin and then styled her hair into a bun.
After everything was done, it was still daytime.
When the auspicious hour arrived, Shujuan covered Su Xin’s head with a red veil (紅蓋頭, a traditional Chinese wedding veil).
Su Xin sat in the soft sedan chair, being carried to a certain place.
It didn’t feel like a long journey before the sedan chair stopped. She kept her head down, and a slender, fair hand appeared in her sight.
Having spent every day with the owner of the hand, she naturally knew who it was.
Su Xin was carefully helped out of the sedan chair by Qu Feiqing. Unable to see the road, she could only follow Qu Feiqing’s lead.
“If we bow to Heaven and Earth together, there will be no chance for you to back out.”
“I know.”
In the place of the ancestral tablets (高堂, a traditional place of honor for ancestral spirits) was a memorial tablet, which belonged to Qu Feiqing’s mother, the consort.
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First bow to Heaven and Earth (一拜天地, a traditional wedding ritual bowing to Heaven and Earth).
Second bow to the high hall (二拜高堂, bowing to one’s parents or ancestors).
Husband and wife bow to each other (夫妻對拜, mutual bowing signifying their union).
Escorted to the bridal chamber (送入洞房, a traditional custom where the couple is led to their marital room).
During the mutual bow, Su Xin’s forehead touched Qu Feiqing’s. From then on, they would be together, inevitably experiencing bumps along the way. They must strive for happiness.
Su Xin’s memory of that night was exceptionally clear: the flickering red candles, the pasted “happiness” characters (喜字, a traditional decoration for weddings), and Qu Feiqing’s affectionate gaze.
The flamboyant red filled the entire space, with entwined kisses trailing from the corners of the eyes to the lips.
To tie the knot with you, to share joy with you (與汝結發，與汝同歡, a vow of lifelong companionship and happiness).
Su Xin’s life felt like a sweet dog abuse drama, but it came to an abrupt end one day.
On that day, they had known each other for fourteen years.